The New York Observer published a story this week on how Tibetan nannies are all the rage in New York at the moment (it used to be Filipinas, but apparently they’re history). The pink gossip rag points out that, on Urbanbaby.com, parents with Tibetan nannies claim their hired help are “very balanced and Zen,” with some going so far as to say that they aid in a child’s “spiritual development.”

BARF.

But it gets better:

“There’s kind of a mutually agreed unspoken agreement among mothers that all the normal rules about racism are off when you’re talking about nannies,” said one book editor in her early 30’s who asked not to be identified because her Filipina nanny is illegal. “People talk about ethnicity in a way they never would at any other time. Even people who are very aware of not making racial stereotypes will put that on hold when talking to other mothers.”

You know, like many other women in my generation, I’ve been kind of ambivalent about motherhood, but now that I know being a mother means getting a free pass to blather on like an idiot..well, heck, sign me up!